A recent flurry of great blog suggestions have arrived from Monika, Abby, and electronic news lists at large. Rather than post each separately (the ongoing plight of overwork is driving me nuts!), I am summarizing the links here. All can be found at http://delicious.com/notimetolose, as well…

I think everyone has waited long enough for installation photos from Tobaron Waxman’s performance, Block of Ice +1/60, a new media performance-based installation that took place at Peacock Visual Arts as part of No Time to Lose. Thanks for your patience =-).

The press release and images follow…

BLOCK OF ICE + 1/60

LIVE ART PERFORMANCE AND MULTIMEDIA INSTALLATION BY TOBARON WAXMAN

PEACOCK VISUAL ARTS
22-26 July
Daily 9.30am – 5.30pm
Admission free

Can you work even while you are asleep? Artist Tobaron Waxman proves with Block of Ice + 1/60, that he can. His live art performance connecting labour and water ecology is the final part of ‘No Time to Lose’, an exhibition exploring the theme of ‘overwork’.

Waxman’s brain functions like that of a shift worker, i.e. he sleeps during the day and works during the night. The impressive installation Block of Ice + 1/60 involves the artist sleeping in a large hammock suspended from the gallery ceiling, next to a heavy 200 pounds block of ice hanging from the ceiling as well…

While the artist sleeps, biofeedback from his brainwaves are monitored in a process allowing him to pull images from the internet. The images are subsequently projected onto a block of ice as it melts over the course of the week.

Passing through a filtration system the ice melts into bottles while, at the same time, screen captures of the projection are printed onto labels. Upon waking at night, the artist begins his ‘working day’ by applying the labels to each bottle thus generating an artist’s multiple. The bottles are a unique edition for sale, with proceeds going to not-for-profits concerned with labour and hydrology.

Block of Ice +1/60 reveals the boundaries between social and personal experiences of ‘schedule’ and the notion of 9 to 5 as the minimum “respectable” work hours. It’s an image juxtaposing the ecology of work opposite the fragile balance of the water table.

Tobaron Waxman’s project, Block of Ice +1/60, represented the final stage of the exhibition, No Time to Lose. I was working in a completely different part of the world while the installation and performance took place. The team at Peacock were amazing! The amount of work they did to change over the show in such a short period of time is nothing short of phenomenal. And, while all of that was going on, Monika still found time to take a few snaps of the materials as they were being unpacked and prepared for installation. Here are a couple of them …

(Note: I wrote this blog entry on Thursday afternoon at 2:00 p.m., but I’ve backdated it because the blog is set to keep time in the Eastern Standard time zone, not Greenwich Mean…)

Anja’s S friend, Juan, commented that based the photos on our blog, it looks like we’re spending more time having fun than actually working. Well, I think his opinion is about to change 😉

This is not to say that we’ve not been having fun… because we are! However, as we got closer and closer to our deadlines, the type of work we were doing changed considerably. It’s true that the first couple of days involve doing such things as gathering materials, preparing spaces, and discussing options and possibilities. The pace of things always picks up closer and closer to the deadline. In the case of this show, we had two preview deadlines. The first was Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. in order to receive a reporter from The Scotsman. Our second deadline was on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. to meet a reporter and crew from STV News.

We’re now putting the finishing touches on things in order for the final deadline, which is the exhibition opening at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday… more about that soon.

First up, more photos taken on Tuesday then a pile from Wednesday. Enjoy!

Sandpaper conference

Angela installing sign vinyl

Catching up, editing, changing, correcting…

Strategic planning

A long awaited preview
The last one to arrive… Abby! We must take photos IMMEDIATELY! There is no time to lose 😉

Another group photo… We’re thinking about you, Cathy!

Monika and Abby test drive desks for “Project Skive”

More materials and supplies

… Says the poet known for having administrative assistants! Ha!

I’m sure it is…

Plastic wrap fashion show… covering up before some last minute spray-painting

A quick note on Wednesday night to say that we’ve been working extra hard today…

Abby’s installation is done, Saki’s is almost done, Anja + Anja have a few finishing touches to add to both projects, and Cathy’s installation is also very close to being done. Tomorrow we’ll adjust the lighting, add some labels, and clean up the floors. We have a press photo-call scheduled for tomorrow morning, and the opening begins at 6:00 p.m. We hope you’ll be able to join us!!

Speaking of pres calls, earlier this afternoon we had a visit from a wonderful reporter from the Scotsman. She’s hoping to return when everything else in place. Maybe that will be during our informal conversation on Friday between 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. And of course, everyone is welcome to attend that, as well =-) Remember to bring your lunch!

Between four power sanders and five power people, we got through those desks in no time flat! I suspect they are already being painted.

Anja and Anja returned from “Roam/Stay” with a collection of drawings, recordings, notes, and photographs. They would have loved to spend more time engaged in these actions and interactions but, unfortunately, the clock is ticking away and there is still much for them to accomplish before the exhibition opens on Thursday.

On that note, their Fibreglas form has been plastered and is now drying so that it too can be sanded down and painted. In the meantime, they are reviewing their audio material for “Roam/Stray” and making final edits to the video components of “Workplaces at Night”

I just received an email from Cathy… all is going very well. She has acquired plenty of books and other materials, and the library staff are being tremendously helpful. It’s fantastic that they are so interested in her project! Whoo hoo!

Abby will be arriving by train at approx. 5 p.m. I’m looking forward to having the “NTTL Phase 1” gang altogether, and of course, everyone is looking forward to meeting her, as well :). Her office cubicle is in place, a desk and chair have been sourced, Jack seems to have the computer kiosk software in order, and now for the fun part: decorating! We’ll probably really get at that tomorrow.

Monika has finished the brochure, and now I’m going to look over the label text. A couple of media appointments have been scheduled for tomorrow, and John de Graaf of the fantastic North American organization, Take Back Your Time, has so kindly informed me that news about our exhibition will be released as part of the next newsletter, which will be circulated soon!